LIGHT
by KayaandAria
Summary: L I G H T 'the world is a dark place' 'that's why i'm here, to light it up' in which a daughter of hecate is dragged into yet another deadly quest to save the world {leo valdez x oc} {the lost hero} { kayaandaria I 2018}
1. INTRODUCTION

**LIGHT**

in which kiara warsamè gets dragged into another deadly quest to save the world

 **l**

 _' the world is a dark place '_

 _' that's why i'm here to light in up '_

 ** _(ahaha, i'm back! idk how but this story deleted a long time ago and l'm lowkey upset, bcz i rlly liked it and now everything is gone. i finally decided to republish so here it is!)_**


	2. DISCLAIMER

**_I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON OR THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS_**

 ** _I DON'T OWN ANY IMAGES/GIFS USED_**

 ** _ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS_**

 ** _I ONLY OWN KIARA WARSAME, SYLVIE KANG, AND ANY OTHER OC'S/ PLOT CHANGES THAT OCCUR IN THE STORY_**


	3. i spock and friends

It took a lot to make Kiara Warsamè completely lose her cool. The girl was calm and rational in most stressful situations, her many years of being chased by monsters giving her some sort of an immunity to freaking out, well publicly. However, certain things managed to rouse a strong reaction even out of her, and her best friend Percy Jackson being missing certainly made that list.

Much like the rest of the camp her initial response was that of nonchalance, Percy wasn't the most serious person so everyone dismissed his initial disappearance as some sort of joke, but as the day grew it became abundantly clear it certainly wasn't that.

The first hint was his mother contacting the camp wondering if they had seen him as apparently he was supposed to go somewhere with her, but he never showed. This worried Annabeth who immediately attempted to Iris message him, but to no avail, as it didn't go through.

All tracking of Percy had been virtually impossible. Kiara, and by default the rest of the Hecate cabin, had attempted to use their magic to track him, but they got nothing. Yelena claimed that she felt like she found a tiny piece of his aura, but as soon as she reached out it fizzled away. That was the first time Kiara had lost it; she began screaming obscenities at her, upset that she had let it get away. This resulted in her being pulled out of the room by Lou-Ellen and her brother, Kaiden, until she managed calmed down.

The second time she ended up destroying Clarisse's second electrical spear, and ironically enough, the first one was broken by Percy. The pair had gotten into a heated argument and Clarisse ended up shoving Kiara away in anger, a move that would normally be ignored but not in her current state. The brunette muttered an incantation and then snapped her fingers, the electrical spear exploding into nothing in Clarisse's face. The Daughter of Ares did not take kindly to this and probably would've strangled her right there if not for Chris calming her down, which turned her murderous rage down quite a bit.

It was obvious then that Kiara needed to get some fresh air, and at the very least be away from camp for a while, and luckily, or not Annabeth had a vision, one regarding the whereabouts of Percy while also needing to travel outside of Camp Half-Blood. The blonde had already planned on taking Kiara with her, she was one of her closest friends and also the closest to Percy. But, even she couldn't anticipate the unexpected turn the trip ended up taking.

"What do you mean 'tornado things'?" Kiara demanded, "There are so many things that could be, can you narrow it down?"

This question was directed at one of the three demigods that she, Annabeth, and Butch had found in place of Percy. An irrational sense of anger built in Kiara's throat at the sight of them, but even when she was this upset she knew she couldn't be mad at them personally. They were like her when she was first thrown into this world, totally unsuspecting and innocent to the horrors that would soon plague them.

"Uhm, narrow it down?" A voice replied and the slight tremor more than gave away its nervousness. She turned to observe the boy who had first described the monsters they faced as 'tornado things'. With his rich caramel skin, curly black hair, and warm brown eyes he reminded her of a cute latino elf, looking deeper into his eyes she thought that certainly suited him. They danced with some sort of mischievousness, a spark that most spawn of Hermes shared, but she knew better than to assume anything this early on, godly parents were always a surprise.

"They were venti," someone else answered, cutting off the answer the latino boy had prepared, "storm spirits," it concluded with finality.

Kiara and Annabeth both turned to each other, a quizzical expression on their faces. No one ever used the Roman terms when referring to monsters, well unless they were in Latin class that is. The Daughter of Hecate turned back towards them while attempting to keep arising suspicion off her face, who was he?

Annabeth had the same idea as Kiara, but she vocalized her confusion. "You mean anemoi thuellai?" She asked with an arched brow. "That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"

While he relayed his story Kiara took the time to look over the boy, well she supposed it was Jason now since he had introduced himself, but it didn't really matter as she'd probably get his name later. For some reason Jason seemed oddly familiar to Kiara, though it could be that he looked very stereotypically like the typical American golden-boy, what with his blond hair, tall and athletic form, and his blue eyes, but she shook her head at the notion, she knew it certainly wasn't that. She glanced over again before she realized what had stuck out the most, it was his eyes. They weren't the normal sky blue she was used to seeing on so many people, no, they were sharp, a deep cobalt even. She knit her brows in confusion, where had she seen them before?

She didn't get to finish mulling over possibilities as his story ended far too soon, and the tale didn't satisfy Annabeth at all.

"No, no, no!" She seethed. "She told me he would be here. She told me if I came here, I'd find the answer!"

"Our fault for believing Hera," Kiara murmured in response as her right hand curled up into a fist, her thumb rubbing over the leather that covered her knuckles. If she could punch any god it would be Hera, by a long shot, which was saying something since she certainly wasn't considered an angel in all of the gods eyes.

"Annabeth," Butch grunted causing the blonde to pause her assault of the floor momentarily. "Check it out."

The son of Iris pointed to Jason's feet and Kiara turned curiously wondering what he could be referring to before her eyes widened in realization. Annabeth had explained the vision she had, in scary detail, to the two of them and it made sense right away.

"The guy with one shoe!" Kiara exclaimed as she let out a sigh of relief, this was a step in the direction of locating Percy. "Annabeth, he's the answer!"

"No, it can't be," Annabeth insisted, the news not relieving her emotions the slightest bit. "I was tricked!" She turned to glare at the sky, and Kiara knew exactly which Olympian she was gonna curse at. "What do you want from me?" She screamed instead. "What have you done with him?!"

The skywalk shuddered loudly as if the bitch, Hera, was responding herself. The horses looked nervous before they began whinnying urgently and Kiara took that as their sign to leave.

Butch had the same idea and he began making his way to the horses. "Annabeth, come on, we gotta go."

The blonde didn't reply and Kiara sighed.

"Annabeth," she tried, again, no response. Kiara placed a hand on her friend's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Come on, we do have to go, these three," she gestured to Jason and the other two half-bloods, "have to get to camp safely, and the anemoi thuellai may come back," the brunette then frowned as she closed her eyes in concentration, and not too far away, she could sense the magic signature of them clearly. "Actually scratch that, they are coming, and I don't think they want to go through another fight with those things."

She fumed for a moment, no doubt locked in some form of internal debate before she sighed. "Fine," she caved but not before fixing Jason with a resentful glare, one that Kiara winced as she remembered the numerous times she was on the receiving end of it. "We'll settle this later."

She turned on her heel and marched back towards the chariot where Butch was attempting to calm down the horses who were beginning to panic. Kiara glanced at the floor below, she certainly understood their worry, she didn't think this place was safe to be at too.

She then turned her attention back to the new trio who looked beyond confused and Kiara frowned, she supposed they really did do nothing to explain anything to them, but right now they didn't have the time. The storm spirits were bound to be upon them soon.

"Hey, hate to interrupt, but we really should be going." The brunette declared as she took a step forward in their direction. "We'll explain everything to you on the way, but we don't have that luxury right now."

"I'm not going anywhere with her," Jason gestured towards Annabeth who was now tossing something around. "She looks like she wants to kill me."

"Yeah," Kiara replied after a moment's hesitation because blondie number two had really hit the nail on the head, she didn't doubt that Annabeth would have no problem doing what he just described. "I wouldn't worry, she's actually a great person," she trailed off thinking how to word her next claim. "She's just on edge, we all are," she said gesturing to her, Butch, and Annabeth. "We came here to find an answer to our problem, but she isn't convinced."

"What, we're not good enough for you?" The girl asked and Kiara offered her a small smile before noticing her eyes, they were strange, but really pretty. A kaleidoscopic mix of blue, green, and brown.

Blinking out of her momentary lapse Kiara shook her head. "Nope," she answered simply and she didn't miss the way the girl's eyes narrowed at that. "But I don't think anything will be good enough until we find what we're really looking for."

"And what's that?" Jason pushed.

"More like who," Kiara corrected a small reminiscent smile taking hold as she thought of him. "Her boyfriend, and one of my best friends. Percy Jackson."

Kiara fixed her gaze at the horizon, attempting to find something to focus on, but she found herself turning around again, still very weary. The storm spirits were nowhere close to them, at least from what she could see, but that didn't set well. They should've found them a while ago, especially with how many of them there were now.

She sighed before forcing her gaze forward, she was most likely just being paranoid, but she knew that wasn't the case.

An excited gasp then caught her attention and she turned her head to look at the latino boy, he was looking at everything with a sort of excitement akin to that of a child receiving a new toy. She then swiveled her head out of the way, narrowly missing a feather that had fallen out of his mouth, the wind blowing it right towards her face. She had to stand in the back with the trio since there was no room in the front and she had no skills that were needed up there; she couldn't guide the horses, and she was shit at directions.

"You look like you're having fun," Kiara commented with a small smile.

It took a few moments, but the latino boy finally realized she was talking to him.

"Yeah," he replied with a large grin. "This is so cool! Do you get to do this all the time?"

"Not, all the time," Kiara answered. "But there will be other things that are even cooler, I can promise you that, uh…"

She trailed off expectantly, waiting for him to give his name since the Jason kid had only introduced himself in his explanation. Though she couldn't blame him, he was under a lot of pressure, mainly Annabeth's death stare.

"Oh, I'm Leo."

"Well, Leo, I'm Kiara," she held out her hand which he stared at for a second before shaking it, she had a slightly weird habit of having to introduce herself formally, something her dad always made sure she did, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She smiled at Leo before turning her attention to the girl of their little trio. "And your name is?"

"I'm Piper," was her clipped response. Kiara pursed her lips Piper seemed super apprehensive about everything, but she could understand, when her life was uprooted and she found out she was a demigod it was a lot to take in.

"Where are we going?"

Leo's random question brought her out of her thoughts and she opened her mouth to respond but Annabeth beat her to it,

"We're going to a safe place, in fact it's the only safe place for people like us. Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp half-what?" Piper said with what might've been a bit too much venom, "what is that supposed to be some sort of a bad joke?"

"Half-blood, it means we're demigods, half god half mortal," Jason answered and with that Kiara's suspicion of him was pushed into overdrive. He knew a lot… too much for someone who hadn't been to CHB before. It was odd.

Annabeth looked back and she could tell in her eyes that she thought the same of him too, they'd most likely talk later for now Kiara just raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

"Dang Jason, you sure seem to know a lot, I'm sure your history teacher loved you," the brunette smiled a bit as she could basically feel Annabeth rolling her eyes at her. "But yes, we are demigods, Annabeth is our resident Einstein because she's daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and war strategy. Butch here is the son of Iris, goddess of rainbows. And I'm a daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic and the mist."

Leo snorted, "Your mom is a rainbow goddess?"

Butch narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"No. no," Leo assured him, "Rainbows, super duper macho."

Kiara smiled a bit at him, she was right about him being mischievous, but at least he seemed like he had a good personality, honestly he kinda reminded her of Percy. She frowned when she thought it over again… maybe just a tiny bit.

A sense of anticipation washed over her and she whipped her head around quickly before cursing under her breath, the anemoi thuellai had found them.

"ANNABETH, BUTCH WATCH OUT!"

She had called out too soon and a flash of lighting got a little too close to them. Opening her eyes she saw that none of them had gotten hurt.

"Shit…"

The left wheel of the chariot was burning, the chariot that wasn't there and belonged to the Apollo cabin who most definitely did not want it destroyed.

She raised her hand and called on her magic power, eyes already beginning to glow the faint purple they always did when she used her magic.

"Incantare: evanescet flamma!"

The flame slowly began to fade out and white puffs of smoke took its place, disappearing in the atmosphere behind them as Butch was really starting to go hard at the reigns. Kiara braced herself as she knew they were going to start going inhumanly fast.

"You might want to hold on tight," she warned the other three.

"Wh-aaaaa!"

Kiara squeezed her eyes shut as even the second she had them open had started to make her quesy. Travel wasn't always her thing, especially by air, the prospect of falling to death wasn't necessarily attractive.

The chariot had begun to shake violently and Kiara could assume that the fast spurt was over. She dared to open her eyes and sighed realizing that the anemoi thuellai had stopped following them, however, a glance around revealed that the wheels of the chariot were missing.

Shouldn't we be falling? She thought with a slight frown, she wasn't complaining by any means but it was just odd. Then she realized she should've kept her thoughts quiet because fall they did.

Her heart began to pound she seriously wasn't about to die on a chariot without even finding Percy, and with three new demigods they were supposed to be leading to safety.

Looking down below she could see plenty of orange shirts, meaning they were in CHB territory… which meant-

"The lake!" she yelled, "Aim for the lake!"

Butch and Annabeth gave no signal that they had heard her, but she sure hoped they did, she'd rather freeze than go splat!

BOOM- she supposed she got her answer as she submerged in the water that was unfairly cold. She laughed stupidly, Percy would think this was perfect, too bad she wasn't a child of the sea god so she wouldn't have to worry about drowning.

But apparently it wasn't going to go down like that, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and hauled her up to shore.

She got up immediately coughing and shivering, she usually liked the cold but this wasn't her cup of tea.

A camper immediately dried her off with their magic hair dryers, keeping it on for longer than needed, she rolled her eyes when she saw it was Kayla, an Apollo kid who she played volleyball with quite a bit. Kayla grinned and tossed her a fluffy blanket.

"So nice of you to drop by, need anything else princess?"

"Awh, tell me why you're so nice," Kiara responded sarcastically, "want to grab me a red velvet cupcake? Hadn't had one of those bad boys in a while."

Kayla opened her mouth to respond but Annabeth called Kiara over to where she stood with Will Solace who seemed pissed, and she could definitely guess why.

"Why haven't they been claimed yet?"

Kiara frowned, that was odd the gods were supposed to pay more attention to their kids after Percy made them promise in the Titan War, but she wouldn't be surprised if some of them ignored that.

"Well, I hope they're worth it,"

Kiara immediately sulked upon hearing that voice, here strutted in the person she disliked the most in the camp, Drew Tanaka.

Her hair was styled in perfect ringlets, makeup glammed to a tee, and perfectly placed dainty jewelry. As much as Kiara didn't like her she envied the fact that Drew managed to make a pair of jeans and the camp shirt glamourous.

Leo snorted in annoyance. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding," Jason added. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

"Jason," Annabeth replied, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew"—she frowned at the daughter of Aphrodite, which Kiara took as an opportunity to do the same—"all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"Hey," Piper cut in, "we didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew rolled her eyes. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

Piper took a step forward and Kiara wouldn't be surprised if she hit Drew, in fact she'd applaud her. But, she stopped when Annabeth told her to which was a smart move for her. Kiara however didn't have to worry about the Daughter of Athena regulating her.

"Well, Drew you have a personality that's about as good as a burnt potato but we still keep you around," she put on a small petty smile, "besides we're all friends here, right sweetie?"

Drew was fuming, that much was easy to see, but she didn't say anything else which surprised Kiara. She then noticed that the Daughter of Aphrodite kept glancing at Jason and she couldn't help but roll her eyes, Drew was seriously trying to act like a good person just so she could basically get him, but was Kiara surprised? No.

"Okay, so can someone please tell me what claimed is?" Piper blurted out.

After that there was a collective gasp, which Kiara took part in as well as raising her eyebrows, she didn't expect that.

A bright red light had bathed everyone and it was coming from the holographic fiery hammer than was floating over Leo's head.

"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse—"

"Butch, shut up," Kiara whispered harshly.

Annabeth then chimed in. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"

"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"

Kiara raised her eyebrows in suspicion in what felt like the 20th time today, what was up with this kid?

"Jason," Annabeth voiced carefully, "how did you know that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well that's interesting…" Kiara whispered, how would he not know?

"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"

"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth answered, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."

"But in Greek that's Hephaestus, which just so happens to be who your godly father is," Kiara said taking a step towards the latino boy. "Annabeth, I think I'll take good ole Leo a tour."

The blond shook her shoulders, and Kiara figured as long as Annabeth didn't have to do it she didn't really care who did.

"Just make sure you introduce him to Cabin Nine and all his bunkmates."

"You got it."

"Hey! What the heck is Cabin Nine?" Leo exclaimed. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

Kiara rolled her eyes, in amusement not annoyance, and put her arm around his shoulder "Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." and with that she began to steer him off to the cabins and introduce him to what would be his fun new life.


	4. ii tour guides and guilt trips

"And over there is the sword arena…"

Kiara paused as Leo stared in awe at everything around him, he certainly found the camp very interesting. It was a bit odd how he even thought the lava wall was amazing, but to each their own, plus it was nice to have some positive energy in here especially with the way things had been. She then pursed her lips, it was irrational to think so far ahead but she hoped that the demigod life didn't change Leo too much, she honestly liked his seemingly happy-go-lucky personality, much like hers used to be before.

She frowned, it was kind of depressing how much being a demi-god changed her, and not much for the better.

"Woah," Leo breathed breaking Kiara from her thoughts, "does that mean I get a sword?"

He was more than enjoying this tour, everything about the camp was just so amazing. Authentic Greek warships at the beach that had fake fights with flaming arrows and explosives? Awesome! Arts & crafts sessions where you could make sculptures with chain saws and blowtorches? Leo was all for that! The woods were full with dangerous monsters, and no one should ever go in there alone? Fun! And the camp had plenty of pretty good-looking girls. Leo didn't really understand the whole related-to-the-gods business, but he hoped that didn't mean he was cousins with all of them. That would be a bummer. At the very least, he wanted to check out those underwater lake girls. They were well worth drowning for.

With that in mind, he tried to focus more on Kiara who was explaining how he'd probably make his own sword, but he was honestly only picking up bits and pieces of what she was saying. Like the other girls in the camp she was pretty, but oddly enough for him that wasn't what he cared about, he was more concerned with what she had done on the chariot.

She had made the fire that was on the wheel disappear, and her mom Heather or something was the goddess of Magic… staring at his own palms he wondered if his abilities would still make him a freak here.

"What does yours look like?"

"My what?"

"Your sword," Leo asked. "I want to see what they look like up close."

"Ahh," Kiara hummed, "well that might be a little bit of a problem, my chosen weapon isn't a sword, and your weapon doesn't have to be one either."

Before Leo had the chance to ask Kiara gripped the leather on her gloves tightly. A magical item that she had taken from the island of Circe years ago. They were just simple black leather gloves, but they were enchanted and whenever she needed Amazonian Silver throwing knives would appear, a metal that along with Celestial Bronze and Stygian Iron was able to kill monsters.

It earned its name as the gloves original creator and owner was a crafty Amazonian. Two plates of the 'metal' also covered the back of her hands which helped her deflect close contact attacks.

Leo stared at the knives in what she assumed was awe, this kid was very easily entertained.

"Do you keep the knives on you all the time?"

Kiara snorted, "nah, my gloves are enchanted, which is definitely a good thing or else I'd lose them in about 10 seconds, and with all the monsters scurrying around that might just be a little problem."

Leo grinned, "oh yeah, I can't really relate though, all the monsters run away in fear when they see how intimidating I am."

"Oh wow, I mean I wouldn't want to have to fight you any day of the week," Kiara replied as she looked over Leo. She had understood that to be sarcasm, or at least hoped it was, he wasn't the most built person, if anything he was pretty scrawny, she frowned, _especially_ for a Hephaestus kid.

Speaking of that…

"We should probably make our way over to Cabin Nine," Kiara announced.

"Yeah, what's up with that? Vulcan?"

"Hmm, see about that we don't usually call gods by their Roman names, unless we're in Latin class," she said. "The original names are Greek, so your dad is Hephaestus."

"Festus?" Leo asked with furrowed brows, "sounds like the god of cowboys to me."

Kiara had to let out a laugh on that one, "I would say you're not wrong, but I'm really not in the mood to get smited. But there's no god of cowboys, sadly, it's Hephaestus and he's the god of blacksmiths and fire."

She didn't miss how his mood seemed to dampen the slightest bit at that, but she couldn't imagine why.

"So the flaming hammer over my head," Leo asked. "Good thing or bad thing?"

Kiara pursed her lips as she tried to find a good way to answer the question. Being a Hephaestus kid wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but like Butch mentioned earlier there was the fact that the idea the cabin was cursed was going around. She didn't believe the cabin was cursed, none of that energy seemed to surround the place, but the Hephaestus bunch seemed to have a serious case of bad luck on their side.

She decided to stay with the positive for the moment, "well you were claimed almost immediately, which is definitely good," Kiara felt a twinge of jealousy at that. It took her mom nearly a year to claim her, but that was before Percy made all god's promise to claim their kids by the time they turned 13, and compared with other kids a year wasn't that long of a time.

"But that Rainbow Pony dude, Butch—he mentioned a curse."

A shiver ran down Kiara's spine while she remembered the reason Cabin Nine was 'cursed'. "Ah … look, it's nothing," she voiced carefully "Since Cabin Nine's last head counselor died—"

"Died? Like, painfully?"

"I think that's something your cabin mates should tell you about." Kiara stated as she began to turn from Leo, slightly done with this conversation. It was obviously going to be brought up again but for the moment she wanted to avoid it.

"Hmm, so where are my home dawgs?" Leo asked and Kiara stifled a laugh, this kid was something else, but thankfully he didn't press more about the death, "shouldn't they be giving me the VIP tour?"

"He isn't exactly able to do that," Kiara replied, "but let's go meet your 'home dawgs'."

* * *

They were halfway through the lawn leading to the main cabins before Leo made an abrupt stop and stared at something in the distance. Kiara turned around and attempted to follow his gaze, which seemed to be focused near Hera's grand white cabin.

Finding that quite strange she pursed her lips and walked towards him, "are you good?"

"That old lady…" Leo breathed, "what is she doing here?"

At this Kiara frowned, "what old lady?"

"Bro, the old lady," Leo pressed on. "The one in black. How many other old ladies do you see around?"

"Well, I'm not really seeing a single one," Kiara voiced, she wished she could see if the mist was messing with him, but alas that wasn't possible- for her anyways, "You've had a long day Leo, you never know the mist might still be messing with your mind. How about we finish our journey to your cabin?"

"Just messing with you," Leo finally said after a couple moments, which Kiara guessed was bullshit but she wasn't about to press him about it now. She also didn't miss how he pulled an assortment of small tools from his pocket and began messing with them, maybe he had more Hephaestus in him than she thought, but to her it signified a nervous habit as she had some of her own- more so messing with her gloves or hair but they served the same purpose.

"Let's go see the Hephaestus cabin," he continued. "I'm in the mood for a good curse."

* * *

The Hephaestus Cabin was certainly hard to miss. What with the shiny metal walls, oversized metal-slatted windows, and the bank vault type door that opened with a bunch of brass gears and pistons blowing smoke. Kiara thought all the theatrics were quite dramatic but then she took a moment to think, if a brick from her cabin was dropped it would explode _or_ turn everyone in a half mile radius to a tree. So maybe she had no room to judge, plus nothing could be more show-offy then the Nike Cabin and all their freaking gold.

Cabin Nine was essentially deserted, which it tended to be during the day as the residents usually were working in the forges, or with the way things were currently they could be in the woods trying to solve a certain _problem_.

The head counselor however should be here, and she was about to call out to him but Leo asked another silly question.

"A weed whacker? What does the god of fire want with a weed whacker?" he asked while spinning around the long tool. Subconsciously Kiara backed up, you never knew what 'special effects' any item could have, the Hephaestus Cabin would be able to make a popsicle stick a death ray.

A familiar voice rang out in the shadows, "You'd be surprised."

A curtain of dark camouflage material retracted, and Kiara could now Jake Mason, the head counselor, who'd been invisible a second before. It was hard to look at him because he was covered in a body cast, which had been his payment for trying to solve their problem. His head was wrapped in gauze except for his face, which was puffy and bruised. He looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy after a tough wrestling match.

"I'm Jake Mason," he said introduction himself to Leo, "I'd shake your hand, but…"

"Yeah, don't get up," Leo replied.

Jake cracked a smile and then immediately winced, which made Kiara feel quite awful. Hopefully they'd be able to solve their issue soon so that more kids didn't end up getting harmed like he did. Plus, she thought as Leo and Jake began to discuss the Titan War and all the things that went along with it she'd, once again, rather not focus on those oh so wonderful events. Especially the death of a certain counselor that she felt was more or less her fault.

"So, where is everyone else Jake?" Kiara asked already knowing the most likely answer to that question, but wanted to change the subject.

"At the forges," he replied, which was the obvious answer, unless there was required training or a group event the Hephaestus Cabin lived there. With that Kiara nudged her head signifying that she was planning to head out, and Jake apparently got the message as he began to wrap things up.

"Anyways," Jake continued, "I hope you like it here Leo, it used to be… really nice" he trailed off.

Kiara pursed her lips and grabbed Leo's hand leading him away from the cabin, "Come on Leo," she said. "I'll take you to the forges."

* * *

"How did he die?" Leo asked, which Kiara immediately winced at, "I mean Beckendorf."

"Well depends on what version you want to hear," she responded while clenching her fists and rubbing the leather covering her knuckles. "What is mostly said is that Percy and Beckendorf went to blow up a cruise ship full of monsters and Beckendorf simply didn't make it out." she smiled dryly, "but the version I believe is that it was my fault."

Leo didn't press on anymore about how it was her fault, which she was grateful for. She really didn't want to feel obligated to tell the story to someone she hadn't even known for a day yet, but at the same time she could've not told him in the first place so it was her fault.

Little did she know the Son of Hephaestus was thinking about how he too believed that he was a cause of a person's death.

"So Beckendorf was pretty popular?" Leo asked. "I mean —before he blew up?"

"Oh yeah, he was awesome," Kiara agreed, and it was true, he was probably one of the most liked people in the camp. "It was hard on the whole camp when he died. Jake—he became head counselor in the middle of the war." she frowned thinking about that, she had too in a way, but more so after the war with Percy's promise. Plus after the whole Alabaster situation she was next in line. "Same as I did, actually. Jake did his best, but he never wanted to be leader. He just likes building stuff. Then after the war, things started to go wrong. Cabin Nine's chariots blew up. Their automatons went haywire. Their inventions started to malfunction. It was like a curse, and eventually everyone started calling it that—the Curse of Cabin Nine. Then Jake had his accident—"

"Which had something to do with the problem he mentioned," Leo guessed.

"They're working on it," Kiara said without enthusiasm. "And look! Here we are."

The forge looked like a steam-powered locomotive had smashed into the Greek Parthenon and they had fused together. White marble columns lined the soot-stained walls. Chimneys pumped smoke over an elaborate gable carved with a bunch of gods and monsters. The building sat at the edge of a stream, with several water wheels turning a series of bronze gears. Kiara heard the familiar tune of machinery grinding inside, fires roaring, and hammers ringing on anvils.

The dozen or so members of the Hephaestus Cabin turned to her as she walked in and Kiara waved, which caused the bunch to come on over.

"What's good my dudes?" She asked, which to no surprise whatsoever she got no response. The bunch just looked at her with raised brows expecting her to get whatever she was doing done and over with. "So, this is your new brother, Leo Valdez!"

All of them began coming over and introduced themselves to Leo, and a couple even made sure to say hi to her, which made her feel appreciated. Ever since the whole Princess Andromeda situation she felt incredibly guilty even talking to the Hephaestus kids, and while none of them blamed her for Beckendorf's death she sure did.

"Well all right!" Leo began, "I've heard you guys are the party cabin!"

Once again crickets, and Kiara couldn't help but chuckle, at least he tried.

"Okay, so I'll leave you here to get acquainted with all these fellas," Kiara said to Leo before turning her attention to the rest of the bunch. "Do one of you mind showing him the dining pavilion later? I mean I can come back too but I figured it would be better for him to go with his cabin."

"Don't worry, I got it." Nyssa responded.

"All right, thank you." Kiara said with a polite smile. She waved good-bye to the others and told Leo she'd see him later before walking out the forge doors.

As soon as Kiara walked outside she took a deep breath, even by her standards today had been quite an interesting day, and a long one as well. She looked up to the sky and saw that the sun was still pretty high which meant dinner time wasn't anytime soon. She grinned, that also meant she could go take a nap for at least an hour and not miss it and get in trouble, which is exactly what she went to do.

* * *

 **updated, woohoo, sorry if it takes a while for me to write i have college applications and a million other things going on right now**

 **also this chapter highkey sucked ass i am sorry and hope i can get through the more boring parts and make my story better**

 **guest- thank you very much for your review :)! i took your suggestion about the magic into account and will use it in my writing, thank you very much! also thank you for leaving a review i appreciate it very much and i am very happy that you are enjoying my story thus far!**


	5. iii lightning

Kiara didn't get her nap.

As she attempted to make her way to the Hecate Cabin a, very familiar and commanding voice shouted out. She frowned and turned her head to the head of the cabins, where the Big 3 and Hera's cabin were located.

"What the…"

Rushing out of Hera's cabin was a particular person that she would never, ever, even dream of stepping foot in there.

Annabeth, along with Rachel Elizabeth Dare and what looked like a knocked out Piper, all rushed out of the cabin. The blond very explicitly making everyone move out of her way, clearing a path to the Big House.

She was going to see Chiron, and if Annabeth was then so was Kiara. With that she began to sprint across the lawn, everyone else being too preoccupied discussing the previous events to even notice.

She burst past the doors and joined the little group that had collected around the entrance sofa where Piper laid, completely passed out. Rachel was the first to notice Kiara and a grim smile graced her lips.

"Chiron… you've never … you've never kept information from me. Even with the last great prophecy—"

Kiara pursed her lips upon hearing Annabeth's complaint, which Chiron did not respond to as he left for his office. What exactly was going on?

"Annabeth," she muttered harshly, breaking the girl out of her internal rant. "Tell me what's going on."

The blond turned sharply regaling Kiara with her familiar stormy eyes, even though no words were spoken she knew Annabeth would fill her in later.

Annabeth walked past Kiara and towards Jason, who on the table before him had a shiny gold sword proudly on display. Kiara frowned and eyed the blond haired boy wondering where he had hidden the weapon, since Camp Half-Blood had no gold weapons.

"Is this gold?" Annabeth asked. "Do you remember where you got it?"

"No," Jason said. "Like I said, I don't remember anything."

Annabeth nodded, and Kiara knew she had already formulated a plan. "Since Chiron isn't going to help, we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means … Cabin Fifteen. Kiara can you and Rachel, keep an eye on Piper?"

"Yes ma'am," Kiara responded while Rachel nodded.

Jason looked a little worried to be going off with Annabeth alone, understanding though as the blond was quite intimidating, and very desperate to figure everything out.

Kiara smiled and made small talk as she hadn't talked to the redhead a lot recently. She had been cooped up in her little Oracle den, which Kiara had to guess had something to do with everything that was going on.

Rachel, as expected, relayed the same message, as well as a surprising comment.

"Kiara… honestly, I'm kinda scared."

The brunette could not help but raise her eyebrows, Rachel Elizabeth Dare- the mortal girl who stabbed Kronos in the eye with a blue hairbrush- was scared.

The redhead chewed at the bottom of her lips, "I'm surprised you're not. What is coming is apparently worse than the Titans. That war… that was awful and now we're gonna have to do it again."

"To think that it was only 6 months ago," Kiara murmured before grimacing. She never wanted to go through all the pain of the Titan War again. She lost too many friends, siblings, blood, and her literal sanity to even approach the topic with a million foot pole.

"Well, of course I'm scared. Percy goes missing and then Jason appears. Piper has a prophecy in Hera's cabin, who is missing. What is powerful enough to take away a god?"

Kiara laughed bitterly, "I might just have to become best friends with the Fates, maybe I could convince them to give us a little vacation."

A voice beside her chuckled at that, "Wow, Kiara I don't think I've ever heard of a better plan."

"Sylvie!"

Next to her stood Sylvie Kang, her very best friend and the first one to introduce her to the reality of being a demigod. Her deep brown eyes were curled upwards, sparkling as they always did when she smiled, which was often. Her long black hair was placed back in two French braids, small strands left out to frame her face, one currently lit with her smile.

She was thankful for her presence, as Sylvie was the single daughter of Eirene, the goddess of peace, and just being around her had a calming effect. Which was very good, considering all the bad memories that were threatening to flood in at the mention of the Titans.

"Hi Rachel," Sylvie greeted, "and hello you. I heard about your little mission and saw that wonderful crash landing."

Kiara curled her nose, Sylvie and Will Solace were pretty close so she was sure she heard a lot from the Son of Apollo.

"How mad is he?"

"I'd say a strong 7.5."

Kiara shrugged, she felt bad but she wasn't the one driving the chariot so there wasn't much she could do. "Honestly, he could've had a burnt chariot too, but me, being the incredibly talented sorceress I am, prevented that."

"Wow, I'm so proud of you," Sylvie commented, "Solve world hunger and I would be impressed. Speaking of that I thought ou and Rachel would be hungry, soooo I brought you some goodies."

She threw a bag of Smartfood popcorn and a Clif Bar at both of them, which Kiara was more than glad to have.

"I'm guessing we missed dinner." Rachel said with popcorn in her mouth.

"Yes," Sylvie responded, "But nothing really memorable happened," she bit the inside of her cheek, "people are getting rather… restless about Percy though."

They all sat in silence upon hearing that, which didn't come as much of a surprise. Percy had such a huge impact on Camp Half-Blood, and for a powerful son of the Big Three to just go missing there was definitely something very wrong.

A sharp intake of breath caught Kiara's attention. She turned to see Piper stirring and forcing her eyes open, finally awake from her long unexpected nap.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Rachel asked.

"Where—" Piper attempted to say, but her voice died out. "Where-"

"You're in the Big House," Sylvie answered gingerly, using her powers a bit, in order to put Piper at ease. "Camp offices. They brought you here when you collapsed."

Piper turned to Rachel, "You grabbed me, and Hera's voice—"

"I'm so sorry about that," Rachel responded. "Believe me, it was not my idea to get possessed."

"Especially not by Hera…" Kiara muttered with a scowl. She then noticed Piper's gaze on her so she smiled fakely, no need to make her even more worried.

Rachel moved forward, "Do you remember your vision at all Piper?"

Something's wrong with the goddess," Piper said. "She told me to free her, like she's trapped. She mentioned the earth swallowing us, and a fiery one, and something about the winter solstice."

"That is… interesting…" Sylvie voiced.

"Yes, so the solstice is probably a deadline or something." Kiara deducted, getting flashbacks to her first CHB adventure- where the Summer Solstice was the deadline for Percy to return the thunder bolt.

"So …" Piper continued. "What's happened to Hera?"

"We're not sure," Rachel answered. "Annabeth and Jason were here for you, by the way. Jason didn't want to leave you, but Annabeth had an idea—something that might restore his memories."

"Oh, that's … that's great."

Kiara didn't miss the apprehension in her voice, and she couldn't help but frown slightly, because even as Rachel attempted to comfort Piper something seemed off about her responses. However, she knew she probably shouldn't judge, the poor girl was probably just overwhelmed from everything.

"Hey, at least you'll be claimed at the campfire tonight!" Sylvie answered in an attempt to lift the mood. "That should make some things cleaner."

"Hmm…" Piper hummed before grinning, "I hope it's Athena."

Rachel smiled, "Piper, I don't blame you. Truthfully? I think Annabeth is hoping that too. You guys are a lot alike."

Kiara nodded, Athena honestly scared her a bit, she was quite intimidating. However, she seemed like a cool godly parent at least. When she was younger and learned about Athena and Artemis in class, she always thought they were so badass.

Somewhere in the distance, a conch horn blew. Sylvie grinned and went to go open the door.

"Dinner?" Piper guessed.

"Nope, you slept through it," Rachel said.

"It's time for the campfire." Kiara continued, "let's go find out who you are."

* * *

At the amphitheater Kiara was immediately bombarded with questions. She had wanted to sit at the front with Annabeth to avoid that, but her godly siblings weren't having any of it.

Kiara laughed, "Okay, guys one at a time, there's three of you and one of me."

Her siblings- Lou Ellen, Kaiden, and Yelena- all fought over who got to ask the first question. While they were doing so Connor Stoll turned around and stole it.

"Thank you Connor for asking so politely," Kiara announced, as she giggled at the looks of betrayal on her siblings faces. "No, I don't know who Jason or Piper's godly parent is, but I'm sure they'll get claimed soon."

"I hope she isn't Hermes," Connor said, "I don't care what Drew says, I think she's very pretty."

Kiara nodded, not able to disagree. Even though Piper wasn't glamorous, by any means, she had a very natural beauty about her. Which made her question her godly parent… could it be?

"No way," she scoffed.

"And Jason is kinda a looker too," Mia from the Hermes Cabin commented.

"That's something Ms. Drew Tanaka would agree with you on," Kiara responded making sure to have extra venom while saying her name.

Lou Ellen rolled her eyes, "Don't care about her, just have fun!"

Kiara grinned, Lou was right. She ignored her thoughts and began to sign along with the next song that begam, watching with childlike glee as the bonfire shone bright gold- matching the infectious positive energy.

Finally the song ended with plenty of applause. Chiron trotted to the front of the amphitheater and smiled proudly. "Very nice! And a very special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—"

"What about capture the flag?" Clarisse yelled. Grumbling broke out amongst the Ares kids. Kiara bit her tongue, she enjoyed capture the flag as well, however, the Ares kids were too into it. That fact wasn't surprising, but considering the state of the camp recently you'd think they'd want to wait before getting into it again.

"Yes," the centaur said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" Mark shouted.

"However," Chiron continued, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

He turned to Cabin Nine, where Leo sat. He seemed very adjusted to his mates, she saw him make a finger gun, which she assumed was directed at Piper. Kiara stifled a laugh and smiled when he made eye contact with her, which the Son of Hephaestus returned as well with a peace sign.

Nyssa stood up, and she was obviously uncomfortable, "We're working on it," was her simple response.

More grumbling, particularly from the Ares cabin, ensued.

"How, Nyssa?" Sherman demanded.

"Really hard," Nyssa said back.

She sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which consequently made the fire sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stone aggressively, bang! The campers then fell silent.

"We will have to be patient," Chiron announced. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" someone asked.

"I didn't find Percy," Annabeth announced after Chiron motioned to her. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis —everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different though. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" a girl called out. Everyone turned, including Kiara. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. They'd been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention, as usual, until Drew stood up.

Everyone else looked just as surprised as Kiara felt, since when did Drew address the crowd?

"Drew?" Annabeth asked cautiously. "What do you mean?"

"Well, come on." Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious, which Kiara took everything in her not to mock. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"

"Well?" Drew called down rudely. "You're the oracle, aren't you, has it started or not?"

Rachel stepped forward calmly and addressed the camp. "Yes," she announced. "The Great Prophecy has begun."

All Hades broke loose.

The Ares kids were excited, something about more fights, while the Hermes Cabins attempted to crack jokes.

Surprisingly, all of Kiara's siblings were quiet, except for Lou Ellen, but she was always talking. That felt awkward, and besides Lou, Kiara felt all of their eyes on her.

"Are you guys okay…?"

Yelena locked eyes with her, "Kiara I…"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Rachel stood to move to the center of the amphitheater.

"For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel announced, "The Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this: " _Nine half-bloods shall answer the call. To magic, storm, or fire the world must fall—"_

Jason suddenly shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he'd just been tasered.

Rachel was caught off guard. "J-Jason?" she said. "What's—"

 _"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he chanted. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."_

"You just … finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered in utter shock. " —An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you—"

"I know those lines." Jason winced and put his hands to his temples, trying to access memories he didn't have. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

"In Latin, no less," Drew called out and Kiara visibly gagged. "Handsome and smart."

"Well, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling, a very strong feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The nine demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here."

Kiara's heart began to race as she looked at her palms, that one line 'to magic, storm, or fire the world must fall' always stuck with her. She knew it was cocky to think she could be related to that whatsoever, but it was still scary.

She couldn't imagine how Percy felt just half a year ago, that essentially the future of the world laid on his shoulders.

Randomly, a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, "I'm here! Oh … were you calling roll?"

"Go back to sleep, Clovis," someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed, including Kiara, a nice little break to ease her nerves.

"Anyway," Rachel continued, "we don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

"Or worse," Chiron murmured. The centaur most likely didn't mean for everyone to overhear, but they did.

The campfire immediately dropped to a scary dark purple, as the nerves of all the campers was quite apparent.

"What we do know," Rachel cut in, "is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken."

Rachel told the group about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk—how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They seemingly served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods.

"Well, that's original" Kiara retorted, sarcastically.

Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin. Kiara frowed when she heard giggling and rolled her eyes when she saw Drew faking a faint, in an attempt to mock Piper. The Cherokee girl definitely noticed but kept a straight face. Somehow she was able to make eye contact with Kiara, who gagged and pointed to Drew. Piper grinned, so Kiara hoped that made her feel at least the tiniest bit better.

"Jason," Rachel called out. "Um … do you remember your last name?" He looked a little embarrassed, but he shook his head.

"We'll just call you Jason, then," She decided. "I believe that It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

Rachel paused, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny, he set his jaw and nodded. "I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," Rachel continued. "Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth said. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

"The winter solstice," Chiron added, "is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things … stir."

The way he said it, stirring sounded absolutely sinister —like it should be a first-degree felony, not something you did to cookie dough. Kiara frowed, at least he was being forward about the danger that lay before them.

Evil magic… Kiara couldn't help but ponder on that one, again what could be worse than the Titans?

"Alright," Annabeth spat, glaring at the centaur. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so—"

"Why hasn't he been claimed?" Clarisse yelled from the Ares cabin. "If he's so important—"

"He has been claimed," Chiron announced. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."

Jason stepped forward nervously and reached into his pocket. His coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a seven foot long golden spear. The other demigods gasped. Rachel and Annabeth stepped back to avoid the point, which looked sharp as an ice pick

"Wasn't that …" Annabeth hesitated and frowned. "I thought you had a sword."

"Um, it came up tails, I think," Jason said. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

"Dude, I want one!" Mark from the Ares cabin exclaimed.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!" one of his brothers agreed.

"Electric," Jason murmured. "Back away."

He rose his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Every hair on Kiara's arms stood straight up and she stood in shock… there was no way.

Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell. When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in Kiara's ears subsided, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders continue to rain down everywhere. Jason lowered his lance.

"Um … sorry." Chiron brushed some burning coals out of his beard, and Kiara didn't notice the grimace that crossed his face.

"A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is-"

"Jupiter… er… Zeus" Jason announced. "Lord of the Sky."


	6. iv prophecy's and the dove

Chaos seemed to be the norm for Camp Half-Blood tonight. Nonstop questions were asked, none of them getting answered or seeming to be addressed at any particular person. However, every single one regarded the fact that Jason should not be a son of Zues.

Kiara was not immune to the puzzlement that came with his existence, though one particular question stuck out to her. How many more children of the Big Three were there? It was obvious none of them actually followed their oath, except Hades technically.

"Hold it!" Annabeth commanded as she turned to look at Chiron. "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three … their pact not to have mortal kids … how could we not have known about him sooner?"

The centaur didn't answer, but Kiara was willing to bet that he knew. And based on his rough front, the truth was most definitely not good.

"The important thing," Rachel intervened, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy."

She closed her eyes and nearly fell, however two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool. They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. Since the fire was gone, the night was dark, but green mist began to swirl around Rachel's feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient—the voice of the Oracle of Delphi:

" _Child of lightning, beware the earth, the giants' revenge the nine shall birth. The torch must burn long and bright, to prevent a world of endless night. The forge and dove shall break the cage, and death unleash through Hera's rage."_

On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but the campers were prepared to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest, prophesying the end of the world must've been an exhausting job.

"Is that normal?" Piper asked. Kiara as well as the rest of the camp turned to her. "I mean… does she spew green smoke a lot?

Drew then shot back a snarky remark to Piper, but Kiara was hardly paying attention, as she was too lost in her own thoughts…

 _The torch must burn long and bright, to prevent a world of endless night…_

The torch… a symbol of her godly parent- Hecate. A pair of which were displayed above her head, on the banner that represented the cabin.

That meant the quest was going to involve one of them. She bit the bottom of her lip in deep thought… those dreams she started having could it be connected to this?

"Kiara…" Lou Ellen whispered, the brunette turned and locked eyes with her sister. The look on her face confirmed what she was thinking, one of them was going to go on this quest.

Yelena grabbed a hold of Kiara's shoulder, "you're going, you have to."

She must've known what Kiara was going to ask because Yelena continued, "Trust me, I'll tell you later. But for now you need to volunteer to go on this quest."

Kiara then focused back on the discussion of the main group. Jason seemed a bit overwhelmed so Annabeth jumped in.

"Well, according to tradition you may choose two companions to go along with you."

Kiara took this as her opportunity, and she stood up to address the group, immediately feeling the eyes of everyone on camp on her, but she wasn't fazed.

"First off, I think we might need to break tradition," she announced. "There seems to be four parts to this prophecy, the lightning- which is obviously Jason. The forge, the dove, and finally the torch," she then set her shoulders back and stood tall, "I've had experience and the torch is the symbol of my mom Hecate."

Kiara turned to Jason, "so if you'll have me, I'll join this quest."

"That's fine with me," the blonde responded. "The forge and dove… so the forge is a symbol of Vul- Hephaestus."

Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa's shoulders slumped, "If you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. You'll need air transport."

"The flying chariot is broken," she continued, "and the pegasi, we're using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest."

She didn't sound enthusiastic, and Kiara could imagine why. Just being thrown into a quest, especially a dangerous one, was not something most would look forward to. Then Leo stood up, which shocked Kiara, what was he going to say?

"It's me," he declared. His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted and Kiara commended him for his confidence. "No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"

Jason studied him for a moment. Kiara thought he was going to tell Leo no. Then he smiled. "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.

"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him, Kiara nodded- agreeing completely. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."

"Oh." Suddenly Leo didn't look so excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. "I mean … Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."

Annabeth nodded. "Then, Jason, you only need to choose the last quest member. The dove—"

"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

Kiara went to stand up, _no way_ was she about to go on a quest with Drew, especially if they wanted to be successful.

Piper apparently had the same idea as her because she stepped forward with determination, "No."

Drew barely gave her a second glance, "Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off."

"I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this."

"Anyone can have a vision," Drew declared. "You were just at the right place at the right time."

She turned to Jason. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose," she glanced to Kiara with an upturned nose. "I guess we need someone with experience. And people who build things …" She looked at Leo in disdain. "Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."

The campers all started murmuring about how Drew was pretty persuasive. Kiara could see Drew winning them over. Even Chiron was scratching his beard, like Drew's participation suddenly made sense to him.

However, she and her cabin mates knew how to resist against Drew's charmspeak. No matter what came out of that girl's mouth there was no amount of convincing that would make Kiara willing to go on a quest with her.

"Do you really want to go on a quest Drew?" Kiara asked. "I mean considering the fact that you and danger don't really get along. Unless we want to be captured by the enemy for careless actions and your arrogance than by all means let's go ahead."

The pair locked eyes, both with a dangerous glint that flashed in them. Drew just wanted to prove herself to Jason for whatever reason, but Kiara was not going to allow their whole mission to be in jeopardy— just to entertain her little ego.

Drew eventually broke their little stare down and scoffed, waving her hands dismissively, "Get over yourself. Things happened and to think you're holding grudges from over a year ago… that's a little sad don't you think?"

Kiara opened her mouth to speak, she'd say what was really sad, but Annabeth interrupted.

"Taking certain aspects aside, the wording of the prophecy shows.."

"No! I'm supposed to go."

Kiara felt compelled to look at Piper, that was a powerful no, and not because she said it so loud.

Apparently everyone felt the same way as Kiara as whispers of Drew's capability diminished and people began to talk about Piper. Even the Aphrodite kids surrounding Drew seemed to agree.

This peeved the queen of mean and she snapped, "Get over it!" Drew shouted, "What can Piper do?"

Silence. Piper had no response for her. Kiara pursed her lips, _come on…_ it's not like she needed Piper to go, but anything other than Drew.

"Well, well," Drew continued, a smug smile on her face, "I guess that settles it."

Suddenly, there was an explosion of deep red, very visible after the fire had gone out. The whole camp turned to the source and gasped.

Piper was adorned in a beautiful white sleeveless gown that went down to her ankles, and delicate gold armbands circled her biceps. An intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest, and her hair was in expertly curled ringlets that framed her face perfectly.

"Beautiful," Jason exclaimed. "Piper, you … you're a knockout."

He was right, Piper looked gorgeous, and the horrid expression that crossed Drew's face alluded to why.

"No!" she cried. "Not possible!"

"This isn't me," Piper protested, confusion very prominently displayed on her face. "I—don't understand."

Chiron the centaur folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example. "Hail, Piper McLean," he announced gravely. "Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love"


	7. v late nights

(a/n: sorry for all the extra exposition, but i felt it was important. plus the fact that she's not just a little character i want to give kiara her own story.

-a/nn: gossamermouse101, thank you so much for your review! im glad you're enjoying the story so far, also the prophecy was changed and there's actually nine demigods, sorry for any confusion!)

Kiara dipped out a little bit after Piper got beautified. The amphitheater erupted into chaos for like the millionth time that night, which wasn't good for her to focus on thinking.

She laughed a bit to herself, the fact that she _willingly_ volunteered to go on another deadly quest to save the world… that was quite funny to her. It was even odder to think that one of her main goals was to save Hera of all gods, which is something she'd never dream of doing.

The walk to her cabin became quieter the further away she got from the amphitheatre, the only noises being the soft breeze of the night. In the distance she saw torches lighting either side of the four entrances to the Hecate cabin.

As soon as she walked in she nearly tripped on a potion vial, which was sitting out open and unlabeled. She rolled her eyes at this and set it on the table on one of the walls where most of the potion making was done. Potion's were Kaiden's specialty, so she was sure the mess was his.

She took a look around the room however and there was not a single person she could blame for the state of their cabin, as it was each and every one of their faults. They had grown used to Lou Ellen covering up their mess with the mist during cabin inspection. So, it's not like they ever really did need to clean, plus Kiara knew she was only getting stressed out about it because she was anxious about the next days to come.

"I see you guys still haven't cleaned,"

The melodious voice of Sylvie Kang sounded out behind her, she walked through the cabin cautiously, which was a smart move on her part. One time she barged in and set off one of Lou Ellen's magical items which turned her into a pig, and she was fairly certain Sylvie didn't want that to happen again.

Kiara laughed, "nope. I don't know when we'll get to it, but let me tell ya, it will be a momentous occasion."

"Just like this quest you're about to go on, huh?"

Kiara threw herself on her bed and stared at the ceiling above with a small smile, "It's crazy isn't it? Just as its over something happens and everything blows up again."

She stood up and shook her head, "We all need vacations."

Sylive gave Kiara a sympathetic smile and held her hand in an attempt to comfort her. Sylvie was Kiara's best friend, and she knew better than anyone that the Daughter of Hecate was more shooken up then she was letting on.

"You might find Percy," Sylvie said after a few moments of silence. Even though she was probably not just randomly saying that to bring up her hopes Kiara had a feeling she wouldn't find Percy on this mission.

"Maybe…" Kiara said just to agree, plus maybe some optimism is what she needed right now.

"Well! I figured you'd need some things for your quest, so me, being the bestest best friend ever, brought you some goods!"

She handed over a pack to Kiara who took it gratefully, she was eternally glad to have a friend like Sylvie. Kiara couldn't imagine having done half of what she's done without her support.

Kiara allowed a quick glance in the bag. It contained a canteen of what she assumed was nectar, a Ziploc bag filled with ambrosia, some granola bars and a bag of Smartfood popcorn, which she was addicted to at this point. It also included a couple t-shirts and a Patagonia jacket, which she was going to need considering how cold it was.

"Knowing you, you're going to rock this quest in sweatpants, so I took the simplest things from my closet. But I could always grab some more fashionable things if you want…"

"I think I'll survive." Kiara laughed, "but thank you for the thought."

"Alright," Sylvie stood up with a grin, one that never failed to wipe off her face. "I am going to leave before your siblings come back, but good luck Kiara. You're going to do amazing"

Kiara had doubts, and she wanted to tell Sylvie of the dreams she'd been having, but she also didn't want to stress her out. Kiara also knew she wouldn't mind hearing it, but once again, the fact that the quest was already aligned to be deadly was reason enough to keep it to herself.

"See you in the morning,"

Sylvie smiled and waved Kiara off with a peace sign, which she copied with both of her hands. The door closed behind her and seconds later her siblings burst in.

"Wow! You're really going on a quest!" Lou Ellen exclaimed, and if anyone embodied the phrase 'bouncing off the walls' it was her. "Well, that's not the part that's weird, you've been on plenty, but like the fact that like right now… with everything-"

"Lou?"

"Yes, Kaiden?"

"Please, shut up."

"Oh, fine." Lou Ellen pouted before turning around and muttering, "imagine being rude… could not be me, hmpf!"

"So you ready for this mission?" Yelena asked taking a seat next to Kiara on the bed.

Kiara thought about it for a moment, "As ready as I'll ever be."

With that she reached into her side drawer and grabbed her spell book and a quill. She prodded deeper and felt the familiar worn fabric of a different spell book, the one from Circe's island. Which she took along with her gloves years ago.

Kiara shoved them both into her bag and grinned at Kaiden, "I'll take one of your healing potions and then I think I'll be fine and dandy."

"Didn't even ask if I had any," he replied with feigned annoyance.

Kiara knit her brows, "By the way, do they still taste like pond scum?"

Kaiden rolled his eyes and Kiara laughed and patted his shoulder good-naturedly, "I'm just kidding, but thank you for always staying on top of potions, and I'd really appreciate if you'd let me borrow one."

"Well, of course,"

"So," Kiara said abruptly. She was thinking back to the amphitheatre, where Yelena told her she was the one that had to go on the quest, and that she'd explain later.

"What do you know about this quest?"

Yelena's face fell immediately while Lou Ellen and Kaiden looked off awkwardly. Kiara rose her eyebrow at this, at the campfire everything seemed fine what was with this tension regarding the subject now?

"Is everything okay…?"

"Uh, yes!" Yelena answered a little too quickly. Kiara rose her eyebrows at that, but didn't say anything so her sister would continue talking.

"Okay, so, I had dreams…"

Kiara got a little excited, maybe the same ones she had, "like a spire of earth talking?"

Yelena frowned, "um, no?"

"Oh, nevermind then."

Yelena looked at Kiara quizzically but didn't say anything. "So my dream… there was a magical figure who seemed powerful."

"Okay," Kiara said, "so how do you know I needed to go?"

"Well, the thing is, they mentioned your name. There was another figure who was there. One that I knew and contacted to solve what was going on."

"Alright, so what will we be facing?" Kiara asked and then she knit her brows, "also who did you know that would be involved with that anyways?"

"Alabaster."

Kiaras heart dropped and she closed her eyes and shook her hands, "no, say that again. You talked to…"

"Yes, I did. But I had to! He was there and I contacted him after. I needed to figure out what was wrong."

"You know the deal." Kiara took a shaky breath, "we were never, and mom made sure to say never, supposed to contact him again."

"Yes, I know but…"

Kiara looked to Lou Ellen and Kaiden, who were still awfully quiet. "You knew about this too, didn't you?"

Lou Ellen was the one to answer, "yes we did, but only because we knew you'd be mad… like you are now…"

"Do you want to know why?" Kiara asked, and none of them answered, and she felt like a parent right now, but she was going to tell them anyways.

"You put yourselves in danger. The Gods said we can't contact him, because in their words he was a traitor. Do you want to be exiled too? Because I'm pretty sure they'd have no problems doing that. Or _worse_ , just like they wanted to do to him."

"Maybe they should get over themselves then…" Yelena muttered, she saw the look Kiara gave her and she crossed her arms.

"The gods are just a bunch of selfish bullies, tell me why Olympus is closed right now? Because all they care about is themselves."

"Let me guess?" Kiara responded, a white hot lump of whatever formed in her throat, "Alabaster told you that."

She then rushed out of her cabin, not listening to the yells of her siblings behind her, or caring if anyone else saw her. She was just so... mad. And she couldn't reason if it was justifiable or not.

Alabaster. That was a weighted word, and although Yelena had some merit behind contacting him it still made Kiara angry to no end, especially because it was behind her back.

However, she thought to herself. She probably wouldn't have allowed her if Yelena had asked, as she would've felt the risk was too high. The gods purposely send Alabaster away, by far the strongest of all of them, so he couldn't 'corrupt' Kiara and the rest of the siblings like he had done in the Titan war.

She winced, and had to blink back tears just thinking about it. Hecate had lost the most children, and thus Kiara had lost the most siblings out of any of the gods in that war. Sending away the leader was cruel, but considering they wanted to kill Alabaster maybe it was for the best.

Going back to six months ago, although she never truly aligned herself with Kronos's side it was hard not to understand the appeal. Kiara, and all the other kids of minor gods weren't getting the appreciation they deserved.

On a more personal note her accomplishments were always undermined under the guise of Percy and Annabeth, who were always regaled as the pair of true heroes. It was nearly sickening and Kiara couldn't blame anyone who went to Kronos' side in hopes of gaining respect, such as Alabaster.

The brunette turned to look around, and at night it was hard to tell where she was, especially since curfew had passed and all the lights were off.

She was past the archery area and was somewhat close to the entrance of the woods.

"Wow, maybe I should get mad more often I could probably crank out a good workout," Kiara mumbled, attempting to make a joke at her expense since she was shocked at how far she had managed to walk.

A rustling in the trees behind Kiara caused her to turn around quickly. She frowned, not seeing anyone so she carefully stepped closer to the source of the sound, discreetly summoning knives in between her fingers— just in case.

"Hello?" she voiced looking around, "is anyone there?"

A weirdly familiar laugh sounded out and Kiara frowned.

"It's me! You caught me! Let me just tell ya, you're very good at this hide and seek stuff!"

"Leo?"

The Hispanic boy stepped out from the woods and Kiara narrowed her eyes, from the pale light of the moon she could hardly make him out.

"The one and only!" He announced with what Kiara could only imagine was a goofy grin, "how may I help you on this fine evening, m'lady?"

Under other circumstances Kiara would've laughed, but right now it just seemed a bit odd.

"Hmm, nothing you could really help me with." Kiara answered, "except maybe what are you doing out so late? Especially in the woods, they're kinda dangerous you know."

"Oh yeah, big scary dragon roaming around, I caught the drift at the bonfire. No one really seemed to be a fan." Leo then smiled, his teeth being one of the few things easy to see under the moons light. "But I'm just a nature man, through and through, and late night walks through the woods? Yeah, they really hit the spot."

Kiara found that hard to believe, even Katie Gardner wouldn't say that, and she sure loved her nature.

"Plus, uhh, I went to Wilderness School, really learned to survive and appreciate the beauty."

"Okayyy," she responded, and just decided to not question him further. "You should try and get some sleep though, tomorrow's gonna be a big day."

"Yeah, I figured," Leo said taking a step forward, "death and endless danger, huh?"

He kept glancing down and Kiara followed his gaze, only to notice that she was still holding her knives. She smiled sheepishly and willed them to disappear.

"Sorry about that," she said, "but you're right, that's the everyday life of a Half-Blood."

She then frowned, now that Leo had stepped forward she could see him more clearly. He was covered in some form of oil and taking a deep breath she could catch hints of Tabasco?

Kiara traced her finger on his face and showed him the black motor oil that wiped off. "So, what's up with this?"

"Son of Hephaestus things?"

His response was more of a question than an answer. However, Kiara had to leave it for now because the laughs of certain chicken ladies rang out.

"Shit…" she muttered. Kiara grabbed Leo's shirt collar and dragged him into the woods. She crouched down behind the nearest and biggest bush she could find and pulled Leo next to her.

"Woah!" he exclaimed. Kiara covered his mouth and ignored the weird face he was giving her.

"Campers out of bed! That means dinner for hungry harpies!"

Leo's eyes widened and he turned to her. She motioned a finger to her lips, hopefully he'd get the sign that she wanted him to be quiet.

"What are those things?" He whispered.

"Cleaning harpies," Kiara responded looking at the figures of Aello, Celaeno, and Ocypete. "They clean up the camp, and at night make sure everyone follows the curfew."

"Chicken ladies clean up this camp?" Leo shook his head, "this keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"Where are you?"

"Come out! Aello hungry!"

"Ocypete too!"

Kiara pursed her lips, they definitely knew they were here, and getting eaten before a big quest was not her definition of a good time. And as for Leo his first day at camp would be his last.

"Okay, we're gonna be fine." Kiara announced. She just had to use the right incantation to get them out of this.

" _Incantare: De Visu!_ "

There was a slight glow of purple, but it subsided quickly, and Kiara was sure that both her and Leo had become invisible.

She could still see them, Leo however could not, and he was very promptly weirded out.

"Did my arm just disappear?" He then flipped them front and back, "I'm feeling a little bit like Danny Phantom, how about you?"

"Well, that's cause I did that, silly," Kiara said before standing up and offering her hand. "Come on, let's go back to the cabins."

* * *

"Oh my gods, Leo,"

Kiara couldn't help laughing at the Son of Hephaestus who had taken full advantage of his powers of invisibility. Messing around, and making faces right in front of the Harpies while they were walking past them.

"What this is total prank material!" He exclaimed still looking at his arms not able to believe they weren't there. He then grinned and looked at Kiara, "when it's prank week I know who I'm coming to."

"I have a feeling prank week for you is about everyday,"

"You already know me so well," he said wiping fake tears from his eyes.

Kiara smiled and looked up to the building before her, "Alright, this is the grand old Hecate cabin," she noticed Leo touching the wall and she grinned, "just make sure you don't break anything or else you'll turn into a tree or cause an explosion."

Leo drew his hand back quickly, "that was a joke, right?"

"Well, I think I should get some rest, same to you."

"Okay, night." He then drew his eyebrows like something was bothering him, "wait, why were you outside tonight if you knew about the curfew thing?"

"It's nothing," she responded, and it was obviously not but Leo didn't prod further, "have a good night Leo."

Something then dawned on her as well, "wait, I'm curious, what's your plan for tomorrow?"

He grinned and began to walk off, "the Great Leo doesn't give away his secrets."

With that Kiara walked inside and closed the door. She leaned against it and laughed, watch Leo have a hidden private jet sitting around somewhere. One of his 'secrets'. She glanced around her room and saw that everyone was asleep, or at least was pretending to be.

' _Good'_ she thought. Kiara didn't want anymore confrontation tonight.

She sat on her bed and looked through her pack, making sure she had everything she needed for tomorrow— and she was all set, and with an extra potion she was sure Kaiden snuck in there. With all that worked out she set her head on her pillow and eventually was lulled to sleep.


End file.
